Fragmented governance, informal migrant workers and post-pandemic economic resilience: perspectives from the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, India

Abstract This paper foregrounds two under-explored aspects that affect post-pandemic economic resilience—fragmented territorial governance and path-dependence on informal industries driven primarily by informally employed migrant workers—in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, India. Drawing from fieldwork conducted in Delhi NCR between 2021 and 2024, the paper highlights how post-pandemic recovery efforts are encumbered by the 'locked in’ effects of fragmented governance, characterized by nearly non-existent coordination between territorial authorities within Delhi NCR, and path-dependence on informally employed migrant workers, many of whom remain un-registered with the local authorities of their work destinations. Abstracting from these empirical insights, the paper introduces a ‘Type D’ category to the existing ‘Type A, B, and C’ typology of regional resilience. This new category focuses on one key determinant of resilience in urban regions: the endogenous capacity to progressively formalize industrial pathways in a differentiated way so that the capacities of informally employed workers can continue to be assets that drive growth.